On Monday, Internet Week kicked off in New York, bringing about 4,000 Web enthusiasts to the event's headquarters at 82 Mercer in SoHo. Since it launched in 2008, the weeklong festival for digital companies and the Web-based community has expanded. According to Ayler Young, marketing and production consultant for Recognition Media—the company that produces Internet Week New York and Europe—this year's event saw a 60 percent increase in attendance. Previously held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, the new location added 20,000 square feet of space to the festival as well as an enclosed classroom area for smaller sessions.
"We needed a bigger floor plan because the festival is growing," explained Young, "but next year we may have to decide whether we can do it here because if it grows as much as it did this year, we could be in trouble."
This year the Yahoo-sponsored event, which started on Monday, May 14, and runs through May 21, saw more than 2,500 visitors each day, so the organizers divided the 55,000-square-foot venue to create more intimate spaces. This included three stages and various lounges furnished by official design partner Design Within Reach, allowing the producers to offer several sessions simultaneously.
The lengthy list of more than 200 presentations and discussions included Buddy Media's "How to Master Social Advertising," Flavorpill's "Sifting for Culture on the Internet," and Yahoo's "Big Data, Big Solutions." Speakers included New York Times columnist David Carr, Tumblr founder and C.E.O. David Karp, and Mozilla Foundation chairman Mitchell Baker.